Wong: Lindseys
report on school a
wake-up call

By Rick Daysog
Star-Bulletin

Bishop Estate Chairman Richard "Dickie" Wong said he did not believe the public release of trustee Lokelani Lindsey's controversial report on Kamehameha Schools' academic programs was harmful to the school.

In his fourth and final day of testimony in the trial over Lindsey's removal, Wong said the Lindsey report, dubbed "An Imperative for Educational Change," may benefit the trust in the long run because it calls attention to problems at the Kapalama Heights campus.

"The report said to me that the kids weren't getting what they were supposed to get," Wong told Circuit Judge Bambi Weil.

"I know people in the community are not happy with it. But I felt that it was a wake-up call."

The report, which was released in December 1997, said the longer students stayed at Kamehameha Schools, the worse they performed when measured by standardized test scores.

It also said that about 30 students in the 1997 graduating class could barely read at grade level, and that only 40 percent of the seniors in 1997 scored high enough on college entrance exams to get into the University of Hawaii.

Current and former Kamehameha Schools students and teachers previously testified that the report's release damaged morale.

Bishop Estate trustees Oswald Stender and Gerard Jervis argue that Lindsey released the report to deflect the focus of the controversy at Kamehameha Schools away from her and toward school President Michael Chun.

The two trustees, who believe the Lindsey report contains many inaccuracies, are seeking Lindsey's removal alleging she breached her fiduciary duties and undermined Chun's authority.